


mourn

by loonyloopy



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, F/M, So much angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-06-09 14:24:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6910837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loonyloopy/pseuds/loonyloopy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Galiana mourns her love ( prompt from tumblr)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. two years later

It was the first warm day of spring. 

There seemed to be a sweetness in the air, which banished the crisp cold of winter and Galiana loved soaking in the sun. The light enhanced the gray in her hair though. It had crept on her during those long months and she wouldn’t even try to cover it up. Sky had told her that it made her look sophisticated. As if she needed that here in the middle of nowhere. 

She decided to visit him today, walking the short distance to the hill, and sitting down with her back against an apple tree.

“Hello, my love. I haven’t been here in a while. Healing keeps me busy, Cullen. You’ve always loved watching me heal. Remember?”

She could use her magic openly now. Some still held distrust in their eyes, but she mended broken bones and wet coughs and got paid with the little things they had to offer and no one ever said anything, or mentioned her past as the famous Inquisitor. 

Galiana would surely never ran out of fresh bed and milk.

“Morwen enjoys teaching the little mages and she and that Levia are still together. Don’t ask me why, but your daughter got that thick skull of yours and I’m just her mother and knew absolutely nothing about anything.”

Galiana laughed. Levia seemed nice enough, but she pulled sweet, little Morwen into all kind of troubles, and could a mother be happy about that? Especially when her first child deserved the best of all, but no one would ever fit Galiana’s standards. 

She closed her eyes.

“Larkin needs to marry that girl of his, but as of now, he is very happy and he loves his freedom and traveling through the lands, adventuring like his parents did.”

Oh, and did she worry about him. He was on the trail of the last dragons and she knew how hard a victory was won against such majestic creatures. Larkin left his lover at home and Galiana held her hand, when he rode out. But he would be back in time. He always came back. She saw the concern in his eyes and he always did the heavy work around her farm, mending broken furniture or fences. Larkin took so much after his father, in looks and character, and suffered from long periods of melancholia. Gone was the carefree child, who sat on his father’s shoulders.

“Scanlon, well, he is with his uncle and aunt Cassandra and still wanting to join the Seekers. And I guess, I got no say in that either.” But Sky and his wife took good care of the youngest Rutherford.

“They’ve grown up so much, my love. I can barely recognize them.” She didn’t wake up to a bed full of curly haired monsters any longer.

“Oh and old Meg’s granddaughter finally had her twins. It’s been a tough delivery and I burned through my stacks of elfroot, but the little ones are healthy.” And driving their mother mad with wailing. 

Galiana touched the stone, which marked his grave. He’d been burned, his ashes scattered, but she decided to have a place where she could remember him in peace. Where she and his siblings came to cry and mourn.

“It’s not fair, you know? You left me, Cullen.”

Two years now. The hurt was raw inside her, accompanying every breath and heartbeat.

“You had no right to leave me.”

And she cried and nothing changed. The stone was warm beneath her touch. 

It had started with the simple things. 

He’d started to forget, names and places, things to do, how they’d met, what they did together, and in the end, he’d forgotten her. Looking at her with dull eyes and then there wasn’t much life left in him at all. His strength had gone and he died. Just like that. There was nothing heroic about it, not amidst an epic battle, but as a frail man, stripped of his former glory and half mad from years of using lyrium. 

Sky had moved in for a while, taking care of his sister, and so had her children. 

But how could you mend something like that? With him, a part of her was lost. It wouldn’t come back. Every day after his funeral, she woke up to an empty bed, an empty chest, an empty life. 

Galiana pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes.

“I hate you.”

She loved him. 

Still. 

Forever.


	2. five years later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another ficlet for the mourn prompt

“I’d thought, I find you here.” The voice startled her and Galiana got up to brush the dirt from her knees. She’d been spending the whole morning deep in prayer and silence and saw a familiar figure approaching her gardens. 

Her mood felt lighter and she smiled. “Cassandra! You’ve arrived and nobody told me.” 

Galiana hugged her old friend and felt strong arms around her back. Even with her hair being completely gray, she still showed the tough edges and strength of a warrior. Some things would never change. She smelled of horse and leather and Galiana fought valiantly against the tears, which were so ready to flow.

“Where is Sky?” Her brother and Cassandra were seldom apart from each other. Even after all those years, their marriage seemed filled with tenderness and so much love. 

She rolled her eyes. “He’s with the children and telling them stories about dragons. Again.”

Galiana laughed, because it was easy to imagine the scenery. Sky sitting on a chair, gesticulating wildly, and telling stories about his old adventures with that famous charm. Morwen, Larkin and Scanlon would be enraptured and asking for more, as if they were small and young again. “They’re hardly children any more.”

“But still love to hear about their uncle and mother fighting against mighty creatures.” They’d lived through their own adventures, but nothing made them happier than hearing about the days, before a war against a god changed everything. About demons and rifts and an age-old conflict between mages and the chantry and about how everyone fell in love. 

Cassandra put a hand on her shoulder. “Do you miss him?”

Yes. 

So much. 

Without him, a part of her was missing. Always. Sometimes she felt so raw, so lost, so selfish, because she had to go on and live and endure. They’d promised each other to grow old together. That had been a lie, his promise to never leave and protect her, as well. Cullen lived in his children, their eyes and hair, their stubbornness, their laughter and love for chess. 

But on bad days, it just wasn’t enough.

Galiana managed a small smile. “Everyday. But it gets easier. It’s been five years and I still miss his voice and expect to wake up beside him.” She touched the stone, which marked his grave. Flowers were growing on him now.

Cassandra hugged her, clearly at a loss for words. “We’re always here for you.”

“I know.”


End file.
